Elementary: M.: Episode 12 Season 1 - TV Review

Elementarycontinues to surprise us with its fine acting, well-crafted stories and solid direction. It’s easily one of the best shows to come out last fall. In this week’s episode, “M,” cracks begin to show on the worn-down consulting detective. Warning, there are spoilers below.

The Players:

Episode Title: “M.”

Sherlock’s past comes back to haunt him as the mysterious serial killer “M.” While Sherlock’s hell-bent on getting revenge, Joan starts to worry he becomes more dangerous and unpredictable. She contemplates sticking around longer than intended.

The Good:

Sherlock on a Warpath: When are they going to start handing out awards to Jonny Lee Miller? This episode is a fine example of how twisted his version of Sherlock is. He’s crawled out of the dark pit of despair, was cast out of his homeland and continually struggles to make life bearable with his work. Once he finds out that “M.” has followed him to New York City, Sherlock shows a glimpse of his darker side. Miller stays inches away from bursting with rage, sorrow and a twisted sense of excitement knowing Irene Adler’s presumed killer was in his grasp. It’s amazing how he continues to peel the layers off Holmes.

“I’ll miss this. Not this exactly, but this.”: It took Joan long enough to acknowledge the obvious: she loves this world that Sherlock’s brought her into. Lucy Liu also gives one of her best performances when Joan gets into a heated argument with Sherlock for using teenagers to find “M.” There was a fire burning in her eyes. Towards the end of the episode, she confesses that she’s loved Sherlock’s world. Miller’s facial expression in the scene is brilliant. It gives off a look as if a girl revealed her love to him.

Throwing The Story Curve Balls: 15 minutes in, a lot of you began thinking there’s no way they can get their hands on “M.” so easily. Either it’ll be him or somebody hired to do his dirty work. It’s revealed to be the latter. We like the added twist that the hired killer is willing to help Sherlock in order to take down his boss Moriarty. Now we’re wondering if he’ll be able to live long enough to help? Vinnie Jones did a great job as “M,” especially when Sherlock confronted him. Sherlock’s absolutely kick-ass when he’s hell-bent on revenge. It’s so cool seeing him in “no mercy” mode.

Nice Direction: You need a strong director to deal with such pivotal subject matter. They made a great choice in having John Polson take the reigns rather than giving it to someone with less experience. He helped keep the intensity of the episode alive.

M. Holmes: Oh yes, you read that email right. Joan shot an email over to Sherlock’s father, asking if she can stay on as a companion a little longer. His response is, no it’s not happening. But then you see his name at the bottom. Yes, that’s a mister “M. Holmes.” Ladies and gentlemen, we believe we found our Mycroft in the form of his father in this series. We knew it!

The Decent:

Repetition: We don’t like it when they cut back to something we’ve obviously have seen. Yes, we know Sherlock was looking up his father’s property that was currently under renovation. You don’t have to go and hold our hand, explaining it like we didn’t see it the first time. Don’t worry, we did.

Overall:

Miller’s broken down Holmes is one of the coolest incarnations, next to Benedict Cumberbatch’s work in Sherlock. “M.” may not have shown us Moriarty, but we got a small taste of what’s to come.